Prosthetic
by Cadavatar
Summary: Before Tadashi died, Hiro used to see Vesper all the time. Since his brother's passed, she's never there- and Hiro realizes Baymax wasn't just built to help him, but other people too. Now it's time for him to start using that big brain of his to bring people together just like Tadashi used to... But how do you interest a high school dropout in robots? Eventual FredxOC pairing.
1. Prologue: The Wake

Hiro realized that, even when he tried to, he couldn't remember what Vesper wore to the wake. What he did remember was how, when her hands took hold of his shoulders, he could see her tattoos up close, sleeves that trailed down to the sharp lines of her wrists. They were comforting.

With more thought, he also remembered how uncomfortable the older girl looked when she waited for her turn at the altar, how she passed by other mourners with muted apologies. The way her shoulders hunched, she looked like she was ready to be admonished for being in a place she shouldn't be. And when she stood there looking at Tadashi's portrait, she looked defeated, like there was a great weight sitting on her shoulders. She didn't stay long, and Hiro couldn't recall her even speaking to Aunt Cass. She just found him again and held his shoulders. Didn't hug him, which was nice- he had been forced into too many hugs by too many people already.

"If you need to get away for a while, my door's always open. You know I'll make exceptions for you." She had promised him in a faraway voice, a monotone assurance that he had taken in stride with a nod before she bolted. In his grief and guilt, Hiro had locked that promise away.

If he was being honest, he had forgotten about it. Between the mess with Callaghan, and the aftermath of finding a place in his robotics classes at the university, Vesper had slipped through the cracks, forgotten like a slip of scrap paper. But thinking back on the funeral, remembering that moment when her hands touched his shoulders, Hiro couldn't help but pause. He had a group of new friends, people Tadashi had introduced him to, but he'd forgotten friends he already had.

The more he dwelled on it, the more he realized he never saw her in the café either- though he wondered if that had to do with his class schedule. But still, even on weekends and evenings, on the beat poetry nights she always attended so she could sit in the corner and look amused, she was nowhere to be found. It was like she had died right along with his brother.

That wasn't true, of course- if he wanted proof she was still alive and flourishing all he had to do was walk six blocks up and three blocks over to find her shop and look in the window. But while part of him reasoned that he was too busy to make that walk, or that _she_ was too busy to see him, part of him just didn't want to go because of the guilt.

But now he could see it, all of it- what she had worn to the wake, and why she had such a great weight on her shoulders when she stood there, looking at Tadashi's picture. Baymax had captured it all- and as his expression transformed into understanding, his guilt grew even more. He hadn't been the only one suffering; and when he had friends to assist him, Vesper had no one.

And it was obvious, that wasn't what Tadashi wanted.


	2. Chapter 1: Introductions

Another day of classes behind him meant that Hiro could relax in the café with his friends, Aunt Cass doting on the lot of them with free doughnuts and coffee, much to Fred's delight. As the five students munched on their snacks and sipped their various drinks, they compared notes over the lectures their professors gave them and discussed their independent study projects, occasionally digressing to try and argue with one of Fred's many suggestions for inventions that weren't 'real science'. Today's topic? Freeze breath.

"Okay, but it was totally in an issue of Corporal Commando." Fred assured the rest of them, clearly not buying the logical excuses they were giving him for why it wouldn't work. "He used it to defeat the evil Agent Orange and his minions of _doom_."

Rubbing his temples, Hiro looked down at his notes, wondering how the other students managed to do this on a regular basis before he came along. "Yeah Fred, but you can't _swallow_ liquid nitrogen..." He tried explaining once again, hoping that the fifteenth time saying it would change the superpower enthusiast's mind.

"What if, what if, you had a stomach of _steel_ then? Huh? Huuuuuh?" Fred countered, eyebrows wiggling as he bit into another doughnut, talking around the food in his mouth. "I mean, iron lungs are a thing, aren't they? Steel stomachs, that's the next big one." The mention of lungs, however, gave him a new idea, perking him up. "Oh, oh, here's an easy one for you guys then, what about breathing _underwater-_" He questioned the group, eliciting a collective groan from the lot of them. Gogo popped her gum in frustration.

But fortunately a distraction arose in the form of Wasabi making one out of thin air, which was probably for the best. "Hey Hiro!" He cut Fred off, biting his lip as he tried to come up with a good change of topic, "What... do... you do for fun around here?" He asked lamely, eyes shifting to Gogo and Honey Lemon for support.

The skinny chemist managed to make a save, though. "Yeah, Hiro! This is the neighborhood you and Tadashi grew up in, right? We've never really looked around, do you have any cool spots where you hang out?" A few months ago the mention of Tadashi's name might have led to silence at the table, but since apprehending Callaghan and starting classes, Hiro was slowly starting to let go of his grief.

Realizing a second later that the conversation had been served to him, Hiro grasped for an answer and promptly missed his chance to return the metaphorical ball. "Uh, well... I don't, er..." He stammered, gulping as he looked to Gogo, as if the gum popping girl could help him.

But Aunt Cass was the one who came to the rescue, with a new platter of doughnuts for Fred to stuff into his mouth and a couple mugs of fresh drinks for everyone. "Oh, if you all want to go sightseeing around the neighborhood, you should check out Tattoo Temple." She chimed, patting Hiro's shoulder. "It's been a while since you've been that way, Hiro! He used to go and look in all the time. Tadashi too!"

"Tadashi had tattoos?" Gogo questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow as she sipped her coffee black.

Looking into his cup and suddenly thinking back to Tadashi's funeral, Hiro shook his head slowly. "No, we uh. We hav-had... A friend, she works there." He wasn't sure how he was supposed to word it, and it was obvious that thinking about things in past tense made him uneasy.

But Honey Lemon, ever the optimist, was good at keeping Hiro in the now. "Why don't we go? We can stretch our legs!" She suggested, already standing, and Wasabi was quick to follow. Gogo looked at her unfinished coffee like a challenge had been issued to her, and as Fred took a moment to choose his next doughnut victim to come with him, she sipped continually until the cup was down to a fourth, then sat it down and retrieved her gum from her saucer.

As they left, Hiro lead the way up the street, hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "The shop is a few blocks up and over, I mean, we don't _have_ to go." He tried to talk the team out of it, recalling with guilt (for the first time since the wake) that he never visited Vesper at the shop since Tadashi died.

But it's no dice, and Fred's hands were on Hiro's shoulders, guiding him to go faster. "So you're friends with a tattoo artist? Why didn't you tell us? Is he like some sort of secret ninja sensei, tattooing Yakuza by day?" Even the change in topic couldn't deter Fred's wild theories, but Honey Lemon laughed at the concept anyway.

"Nah, uh. Vesper's actually a girl." Hiro corrected Fred, although the idea of her tattooing Yakuza and secretly being a ninja made him smile.

Wasabi stopped Fred from nearly shoving Hiro into an intersection, because despite the lack of traffic, the sign still said not to walk. Gogo sighed in discontent. "I'm surprised Tadashi never introduced her." She stated in monotone while they waited, mirroring Hiro with her hands in her pockets, popping her gum. "Is she more your friend?"

The light changed and Hiro started walking again, managing to duck out of Fred's grip. "No, ah, she and my bro were actually friends first, they went to high school together." Mostly. But he didn't say that. "Sometimes he'd go visit her when he was having a hard time thinking, and I'd go with." He explained, trying not to sound out of breath. Her shop was always a pain to get to and a breeze to come back from, with it being so uphill.

Honey Lemon didn't seem to be having any trouble, because she had enough energy to whip out her phone and take a snapshot of a building they passed. "Your neighborhood is so cool, Hiro." She hummed, and Fred started talking about how awesome the buildings would crunch under a monster's feet, and Hiro could tune the conversation out for a minute as he lead the way with familiar steps.

The walk wasn't too long, only three blocks up and two blocks over, enough to give the group time to stretch and enjoy the mild, sunny weather. Hiro saw the shop front long before everyone else did, a red Torii contrasting against black lacquered wood. The front bay window had blocky, capital calligraphy spelling out the shop's name, 'TATTOO TEMPLE' in vivid red, and a glowing neon sign hung up top said they were open. The door was plastered in different tattoo designs, with a sign by the handle that made the others pause.

'NO MINORS ALLOWED*', it decreed in bold, the 'NO' underlined for emphasis. Underneath, however, in neat little lettering, there was an addendum; '*except Hiro'. Smirking slightly, the fourteen year old opened the door, bells chiming with their entry.

The front was empty, Honey Lemon's heels echoing on the black hardwood floor that creaked under their combined weight. Hiro sidled up to the counter, remembering something last minute as he turned. "Hey, do any of you guys dislike bir-" He started, but the flapping of wings and screeching cut him off, startling everyone else.

"No free ink! No free ink! Freeloaders, freeloaders!" A large macaw scolded the lot of them, landing on the counter as it tilted its head at Hiro, imitating a phone ringing with precision before breaking off into another round of nagging. "Little delinquent! Brat! Brat!" It chirped, and Hiro smiled as he stroked the bird's head.

Fred was enraptured, naturally. "Whoa, it's like an evil guard bird with a deadly weakness to Hironium." Fred attempted to pet it, but the macaw shied away with unhappy squawks, alighting onto Hiro's shoulder.

A little concerned, Wasabi frowned, pointing to the bird as it began to preen Hiro's hair. "Aren't you worried about diseases, or..." He trailed off, fingers curling in as his eyebrows raised.

"You calling our bird diseased?" A male voice questioned, and a short tattooed man, only slightly taller than Hiro, emerged from the back. "Hey brat, it's been a while." The guy looked at Hiro, and the bird took off to land on his shoulder instead. "You here to see Vesper, finally?" He questioned, leaving Hiro a little nervous under his frowning scrutiny.

Honey Lemon was the one to answer, stepping up to the counter and extending a hand to shake. "Hiro was just showing us around the neighborhood! We're friends of Tadashi's." Her chipper attitude seemed to make the man a little bemused, so he took her hand. "I'm Honey Lemon!" She introduced herself. "Are you a tattoo artist too?"

"Nah, I just do the piercings." The man explained, flicking the large tunnel plug in his ear. "I'm Yusei. Vesper's an artist though, she's in the back taking a smoke break." He jerked his thumb to the back hallway he'd entered from. "I'll get her." With that, he winked at Honey Lemon and left with the bird, leaving the five of them standing by the counter.

"That. Was so. _Coooool._" Fred groaned after a moment of silence, laughing.

"Did he just..." Wasabi started, trying to process the fact that he had winked at Honey, who was blushing.

"Yeah." Gogo answered his unspoken question, making Hiro smile as he leaned on the counter, watching the usually bubbly college student as she patted her hair and smoothed her shirt, all flustered.

The four of them standing in a shop he'd been sneaking into since he was ten made for an interesting sight. Fred was marveling over the framed tattoo work on the walls, while Gogo spent more time looking at the décor. Wasabi seemed intrigued by what was behind the counter, probably surveying at the tattooing chair and equipment. Honey Lemon had discovered the photo albums of the artist portfolios and was flipping through them, taking pictures of pictures on her phone.

Sighing, Hiro turned- and found himself face to chest with Vesper. "AUGH!" He shouted in surprise, jumping back from the counter and startling everyone else.

"She _is_ a ninja..." Fred whispered to no one in particular, and Hiro grinned at the familiar face and shock of fire engine red hair.

"Hey!" He shouted, raising his hand up in a high five, which Vesper returned- then it was down low, two hands, two fist bumps, and- "Kapow." The two of them said in unison, and with a grin Vesper hopped over the waist high counter with ease to bend and grab Hiro and lift him, spinning him as he was trapped in her hug.

"This is ground control to major Tom, I've just encountered a huuuuuge dork!" She laughed, putting Hiro down and mussing his hair. "Where the frack have you been, you little delinquent-in-training?" She hummed in mock indignation, and Hiro felt suddenly at ease, despite the guilt gnawing at his stomach only minutes before.

Brushing his shoulders off like he was a big shot, Hiro scoffed at her question mockingly. "Well, this huge dork goes to huge dork _college_ now, uh-loser." He put his finger and thumb in the shape of an L and held it in front of his forehead, making Vesper snort and all but double over laughing for a moment before she straightened up.

"So you stopped your bot fighting pro circuit?" She questioned, hands on her hips. When Hiro nodded, she groaned. "Man, and I was gonna bet some cash on you! Now I owe forty bucks to Tada..." She trailed off, and suddenly the gap between them was back, the words at the wake, the long months of silence that Hiro couldn't find excuses for.

It was fortunate, then, that others could break the silence for them- namely Wasabi, who cleared his throat in the least awkward way he could manage, considering the four of his friends had been forgotten on the sidelines by Hiro.

Stumbling over his words, Hiro pointed to the group. "I brought, uh, these are my friends, from college- Tadashi's friends too!" He added on at the end, as if that marketed them better as they muttered their various hellos and greetings, a little apprehensive with the elephant in the room.

But, for once, it was Fred to the rescue, who seemed oblivious to the heavy air resting on everybody else and he stepped past Hiro, sauntering right up into Vesper's space and laying an arm across her shoulder. "Okay, so I need to know, _mano y mano_ here." He started, before pointing to a drawing on the wall, "Is that a tattoo design of the kaiju Ultro Denborg Sentai?"

The others held their breath as Vesper followed his finger to the wall, surveying the framed art piece he was talking about. "Nnnnoooo." She drawled, and Honey looked to Hiro with a nervous expression, until- "But it's an easy mistake, that's actually the clone, Ultro Denborg Gundan, from 'Denborg takes Los Anhanoi'. It's so far away you can't see the blue eyes, though I legnthened the purple spikes on the elbows to try and make it more obvious."

There was silence so pregnant you could hear a pin drop in that moment.

After that, there was laughter and introductions. "I am but a student to your giant monster mastery, oh great ninja!" Fred bowed in reverence before straightening, shaking her hand with the same enthusiasm he gave Hiro when they first met. "But, you can call me Fred."

Honey Lemon was up next, stepping forward with a giddy laugh now that the unease was broken. "Honey Lemon! But you can call me Honey, and I. _Love._ Your hair." She complimented Vesper, who smirked as she ran her hand through the red.

"It looks great, but it stains all of my towels and pillowcases..." She admitted with a shrug. "It must be easier for you with the streaks, uh-"

The short Asian girl snapped her gum and didn't offer her hand, but she at least hazarded an introduction. "Gogo." That was all the conversation they were going to get from her, but Wasabi stepped in to keep the ball rolling.

"And I'm Wasabi; Hiro said you went to the same high school as Tadashi?" He offered, and Vesper smirked as she looked back down at Hiro, who merely kept his hands in his pockets and tried not to ruin the moment.

"Yeah, for a while. I dropped out my junior year." She explained. "We rode the same trolley to school though, him, me and Hiro." She glanced at the younger boy and hazarded a small smirk, though he noticed how it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Nobody else caught it though, and they all were too enthralled with meeting someone new to notice the little tics Hiro did, like how she kept fiddling with all the rings on her fingers, and rubbing her arm. She was uncomfortable, he could tell. She did the same thing in high school, when old ladies would glare at her on the trolley because of her hair and clothes. But Tadashi, he would always...

Hiro coughed slightly, and when Vesper looked over to him he pushed his nose up with his finger and crossed his eyes, she same funny face his brother always pulled to make her laugh. But rather than making her feel better, it just made the older girl look away, glancing at his friends with an apologetic look. "Sorry, but you all kind of caught me at a crappy time, I was actually about to leave." She took a few steps back, pointing to the back hallway. "I gotta grab my stuff, but I have a thing, across city, I'm so sorry..." She hopped over the counter at that, spinning and walking backwards as she snagged her bag and continued. "But you guys seem really cool, maybe I'll see you, and Hiro..."

She paused by the back door, and the fourteen year old found himself walking up to the counter and laying his hands on it, eying her wistfully as her hand turned the knob. "I'll come visit you soon?" He hazarded, and Vesper smiled before darting out the back.

The others were a little stunned by her exit, and the walk back to the café had them questioning Hiro, some inquiries more serious than others. "I'm serious man, you gotta be straight with me. Yes or no, is she a ninja or not?" Fred pursed his lips, eyebrows knit together in suspicion that Hiro was holding out on them.

Gogo, however, had a question that fell on the more serious side of things. "She didn't seem happy to see us." Okay, it was less of a question and more of a statement. An observation. A true observation.

Deflecting a little, Hiro shrugged it off as they waited at the crosswalk. "She probably wasn't expecting us, that's all." He lied, wondering to himself if she was upset that he hadn't visited her since Tadashi's funeral. Maybe she was angry he found new friends and left her behind.

Arriving at the café, Wasabi held the door open as they reentered, Fred making a beeline for the doughnuts. "You know, I had classes with Tadashi for two years, and he never mentioned her before." The older man mused.

And Hiro had no explanation for that.


	3. Chapter 2: Chuseok

It was an _awesome_ day for sign spinning.

Then again, for Fred, every day was an awesome day for sign spinning. It didn't matter if it was rainy or sunny, hot or cold. His suit kept him dry and warm, kept the sun off his head, and if he got sweaty he could take a break in the science lab and watch his friends at work. There was never a downside. He could stand street side in his giant lizard suit and practice his moves, flipping and jumping all over the place as he twirled his advertisement for The San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. He liked to think he was doing the school a service, luring in potential students with his rad skills.

But today was a particularly awesome day for sign spinning, in comparison to other days. The sun was out, but there was a nice ocean breeze blowing in and cooling the city off. Sure, his suit was a little hot anyway, but that didn't bother him. Sunny days meant more people walking by, and more people meant more chances to showcase his amazing talent. Plus, it was a day off for some grade school kids- a staff day or something he guessed, since SFIT was still in session. But school kids loved his mascot suit and how he could stand on his hands, so that meant more flipping and stopping to take pictures with the little ones.

Eventually he'd take a break and go see his friends, but during the day most of them were in class. He'd go with them, but a lot of the professors had pretty much banned him from their classrooms on account of his many questions... and the distracting nature of his mascot suit. (Where was he supposed to put it? In the back? No way!) So he would take his breaks in the lab instead, watching Wasabi tinker with his lasers or Hiro improve his microbots.

Too bad his friends had late classes on Wednesdays; he was on his own until almost six in the evening. Four extra hours of mascot work wasn't bad, but it wasn't what he was used to. Still, he wouldn't complain, not when he got to take pictures with kids looking like he was ready to destroy a city. He almost wished he had his superhero suit instead, but after the first couple times, the others made him promise not to wear it. Killjoys. The super jumping totally drew people in. He even promised he wouldn't breathe fire.

It was close to two when Fred took a break from sign spinning for a minute, sitting on a stone bench with his backpack and his hood down so he could have some lunch. Heathcliff had packed him a ham and cheese sandwich with mayo, which looked delectable as usual. Licking his lips as he held the sandwich in one hand he'd snaked out of his suit's armhole, he took a large bite and hummed delightedly, looking around at the people passing as he chewed.

Glimpsing a bright red splotch out of the corner of his eye, Fred almost missed the shock of red hair that was passing by. But he turned quickly and swallowed his food as he realized who it was- that was Hiro's friend from the tattoo shop! "Hey!" He yelled, standing up and raising the hand with his sandwich to wave with enthusiasm. "Hey, Ninja!" He tried, and the girl stopped and turned, looking back at him with a confused expression. Fred grinned and laid his sandwich down, shoving his arm back in the suit as he met her in the middle distance between them.

"How's it goin', miss kickass kaiju master?" He joked, face all but split in half with the grin he was giving her. "You remember me, right?" He hoped so.

"Yeah, you're uh. Fred?" She questioned with a raised brow, which Fred realized had two lines shaved out of it. "The one with a normal name."

Snorting, Fred waved his hand like it was no big deal. "Naaaah, the others have normal names! I just gave them really awesome nicknames, that's all." They couldn't deny his nicknames were pretty cool- Wasabi? Now that was pretty rock and roll. Perfect for a superhero, anyway.

Ninja girl- or should he call her kaiju girl? She didn't seem really interested, though. She was checking out his suit. "I didn't realize the school mascot was a giant monster. You must get hella roasted in that thing." She observed, and again, Fred scoffed at the notion and waved a dismissive hand.

"No way! It keeps the sun off my beanie, and the breeze keeps me cool." He explained, and with a gasp he realized she had probably never seen him before, which meant- "Awww man, you need to see my _moves_! Wait here." He instructed before running back to his bench, hearing her laugh behind him as he picked up his long SFIT sign and returned. She looked skeptical, but Fred was no stranger to the nonbeliever. "Prepare to be amazed!" He explained in the best stage voice he could muster, and she stepped back, gesturing.

"Show me your stuff, oh please." She hummed, and Fred lifted his hood just a little, smug smile on his face.

"Is that sarcasm I detect?" He joked, and now he was the one giving her a skeptical look. "I'll have you know I am highly trained in the arts of sign spinning and mascot-ery, oh you of little faith." He tutted and put his hood back down again, standing back and holding his sign. "Check this out!" He yelled, and he started spinning- his sign was in one hand! Now the other! Now over his head! He was jumping! It was behind his back! He was spinning, and then he was doing a flip! "Kachow!" He yelled as he landed. "Wa-BAM!" He called as he flipped the sign around his head. "Ohhh yeah!" He yelled as he tossed his sign in the air, did a handstand on one hand, and caught the sign again- striking a pose and then flipping the hinged mouth back without using his hands.

The redhead nodded, obviously impressed. "Wooow." She admitted, arms crossed over her chest. "Okay, pretty cool. Pretty cool." She conceded as she nodded, leaning on one hip. "Where'd you learn stuff like that? They teach classes on it here?" She questioned as she pointed at his sign.

Shaking his head, Fred tossed the sign back back his things with ease. "No no no no no, I'm not a student." He explained, feeling a tinge of déjà vu as he did. When had he said that before? "I just come here to hang out with my pals. The mascot gig's just to give me something to do while they're in class. Plus," He gestured down to his suit, "Dressing as a giant monster? So cool."

"You look like a cross between a murloc and Titanosaurus from _Mekagojira no Gyakushu_." She tilted her head a little to get a better look at the spines on his back, and Fred grinned.

"Whaaat? I always thought I looked more like Gamera."

"Gamera was a turtle."

Man, she _was_ a kaiju master. "Well... what about Rodan?"

"Rodan had wings." She raised her eyebrows at him with a victorious half smile.

"Barugon!"

"Now you're just being silly." She scoffed, looking up to the clear blue sky with a laugh. "_Baragon_, but that's a big maybe. You'd still need a horn." She reached forward and closed his suit's mouth, then pressed between its eyes, nudging him a few steps back. "Right there."

Lifting it up again, Fred gave her a lazy smile. "Okay, so which is your favorite?" He questioned, making her blink.

"My favorite monster?" She questioned, and Fred nodded enthusiastically. She knitted her eyebrows together in thought. "Maybe Guiron?"

"From Gamera vs. Guiron? No way!" Fred laughed. "Guiron had that weird knife on his head!"

"Yeah, but he almost killed Gamera! His blade totally cut through his shell! And it could reflect a monster's beams back at it."

"But he pretty much got beaten by getting stuck in the ground." Fred raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"Hey, you asked." The tattoo artist hummed, and then pulled up the side of her shirt a little to reveal a small, chibi Guiron tattoo nestled in the rest of the body art that was inked along her torso. "See? Adorable. Look at that little knife."

"Dude, that's _so_ cool." Fred admired it before she pulled her shirt back down. "Hey, are you busy?" He asked suddenly, realizing he might have caught her going somewhere.

Looking down the street, Vesper chewed her lip. "Uh... No, not really. I'm off work today." She admitted, and Fred grinned.

"Cool! We should totally grab some lunch together!" He declared as he started walking back to grab his stuff. "I don't get to see the others until six, and I have a sandwich, but I'll still be hungry-"

"Whoa, hold up." Vesper stopped him, and he paused mid-stride, looking back at her. "You want to have lunch with me? Today?"

Frowning, it was Fred's turn to look confused. "Well, yeah. That's what I just said. Duh." He rolled his eyes and picked up his backpack, before realizing what she meant. "Ohhhhhh, you mean the suit, right? Nah, I'll just put it away in the school's lab, it'll only take a couple minutes." He picked up his sandwich and, after a moment, took a couple large bites and put it back in its plastic bag, then into his backpack. He would save the rest for later.

Looking him over, Vesper still looked skeptical. "You don't even know me." She pointed out, but followed him anyway as he walked.

"Sure I do! I met you a week ago." Fred shrugged off her reasoning. "Plus, you're Hiro's friend, right?" She nodded. "And you were Tadashi's friend too?" She nodded again. "Then you have earned the Fred stamp of approval! Easy peasy, bacon's greasy." He got a laugh for his trouble, and took pride in that.

"Well I know this great place we can go to then, best Korean food in all of San Fransokyo." She promised, and they were about to enter the robotics lab when Vesper came to a stop. "I'll wait for you out here." She told him- it wasn't a question. Clearly, she didn't want to come inside. Fred couldn't see why she'd be so nervous, but he shrugged it off.

"Okay! But I'll be right back. Like, if I had super speed, that's the only way I'd be faster." He promised before he dashed inside, climbing a flight of stairs to the second floor where his couch was waiting for him- along with Honey Lemon, who was mixing chemicals at her station.

"Oh hey Fred!" She chirped at him, watching with curiosity as he climbed out of his costume. "What're you up to?"

"Getting lunch with Ninja!" He declared, hopping on one foot as he kicked the last few inches of his suit off.

"Ninja...?" Honey questioned as he set his sign across his chair and threw his backpack on over one shoulder.

"Yeah, you know Ninja! Red hair, tattoos..." He was clearly trying to live up to the promise to be right back, and he was walking backward toward the door.

"Hiro's friend?" She raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, we're going for Korean!" He explained as he exited. "I'll be back later!" He yelled back down the hall, the final 'r' echoing back.

When he got back to the entryway, he found Vesper still standing there, looking at her reflection in the glass and messing with her hair. He popped out the door and held his arms out. "Tada! I have morphed back to my normal form." He joked, and Vesper rolled her eyes and smiled as they started walking.

"While you were inside I called the Korean place, they'll hold a table for us, but they're pretty busy." She warned, watching Fred stretch his arms above his head. While his mascot suit was cool, it felt nice to move freely again.

"Awesome. Oh man, Bulgogi sounds so good right now..." Fred held his stomach and sighed as he looked into the distance wistfully, his sandwich all but forgotten. "How far away is it?"

"About five minutes, since neither of us have super speed." She joked, looking over with a smirk on her face.

Fred was tempted to tell her about his super suit and how its jumping capabilities would get them there in no time, but he stopped himself. Superheroes had to keep their identities secret, after all. It was the curse of a double life... And it was also super cool. "So why are you over on this side of town anyway? Your shop's up by Hiro's place, and that's a pretty far walk." He pointed out.

Shrugging her shoulders, Vesper paused at an intersection as the two of them waited for the light to change. "It's just a place to be." She offered vaguely, and Fred narrowed his eyes at her, making her laugh. "What? I come down here a lot. Tadashi and I used to hang out and have lunch all the time."

Her mentioning Tadashi sparked a million questions in Fred's mind, and unlike other people with a filter, he wasn't afraid to ask them. "Were you at the funeral?" Probably not the best question to start with, though. "I mean, we didn't really see you..." He backtracked lamely.

Vesper's eyebrows knitted together and her lips pressed into a tight line. "I didn't stay for long." She explained, gesturing for him to turn left with her. "Funerals bother me."

It was time for a different topic, maybe something a little less morbid. "So you and Tadashi were besties, then?" Good memories were a better option, he figured.

It seemed to cheer her a little. "Yeah, he moved in with Cass when he was about ten, and the first time I met him, he came to my birthday party. He'd only been in San Fransokyo for about a week and didn't really have any friends." She was much more animated when she was happy, Fred noted. She used her hands as she talked. "My Dad and I knew Cass from the café, so she had called to ask if Tadashi could come. He was... the only kid who showed up." She smirked and looked back to Fred. "I wasn't very popular in school." She clarified. "And after that I hung out with him and Hiro almost all the time."

Enraptured as he was with hearing stories about 'The Adventures of Little Tadashi' (he was already cooking up a theme song), Fred was even more curious about her mentioning Hiro too. "You and Hiro were friends too?" He questioned.

Vesper laughed. "It was pretty much a requirement if I was going to be friends with Tadashi. We babysat him for Cass a lot." She pointed out a shop front down the street. "The Korean place is right there." She changed the subject. "It's nice to be celebrating with someone today though, I was planning on lunch by myself since Yusei isn't really traditional..." She hummed, and Fred paused.

"Celebrate?" He questioned, trying to figure out what holiday it was. Not Christmas, it was September- maybe a birthday? Labor day! No, it was too late for that...

As she held open the door for him, Vesper also looked confused. "It's Chuseok?" She told him slowly, and when realization didn't dawn on his face, she huffed and blew a chunk of hair from her face. "It's a Korean holiday? Why do you think school's out today?"

Feeling a little embarrassed, but still willing to learn, Fred shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands in apology. "I am but a humble nerd..." He joked, and she rolled her eyes as he sidled inside the restaurant.

Vesper was right, the place was packed. There were people waiting in line, even. But that didn't seem to be a problem for Vesper, she waved to the hostess and then gestured for Fred to follow her up. "I know some of the people who work here." She explained, then turned to a short old woman who reminded Fred of GoGo if she were to suddenly age fifty years. Vesper spoke in quick Korean, and even if Fred knew the language he expected he wouldn't be able to keep up with their conversation.

A few seconds later, and they were escorted to a table toward the back. "I think you just ninja mind tricked her or something." Fred muttered in awe as they slid into a booth, both of them ordering sodas when the waitress came by. "Did you? Because if you did, you have to tell me."

Pulling her jacket off, Vesper merely smirked and said nothing. It didn't matter though, Fred had some learning to do, apparently. "So what is Chew-sow?" He questioned, hands flat on the table. "I am a young grasshopper, waiting for lessons."

The waitress came with their drinks and straws, Vesper told her they needed a few more minutes on the menu. "Chuseok." She corrected him. "It's a traditional Korean holiday; a harvest festival. People use it to go pay respects to their ancestors, and then we eat a lot of food. It's celebrated on the... Fifteenth day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar." She looked pleased with herself for remembering it, and then she tore her straw wrapper and blew it at Fred's face.

It struck him right in his kaiju beanie, and he mimed injury. "Augh, Ninja was defeated me! I go to a... better... place..." He slumped sideways in his booth and Vesper snickered, before he sat up with his own straw and fired at her. "Sneak attack!"

But the wrapper missed her and hit the booth instead, making her raise her hands up. "Ohhh, looks like being dead's ruined your aim." She boasted, sipping her soda. "Also, on Chuseok, we have Songpyeon. Have you ever had it?"

Fred shook his head, gulping down his own drink. "Nope! But it's food, so it must be good!" He declared, and when the waitress returned, the two of them ordered- Vesper and Fred both decided on Bulgogi, and ordered a bowl of songpyeon to split. Once the waitress left, Fred relaxed back in his seat. "So you visited your ancestors today?" He questioned.

Shaking her head, Vesper stirred her soda. "I was going to visit Tadashi's grave, but..." She trailed off, sipping her drink.

Fred's face softened a little- he could see her struggling. It reminded him a lot of Hiro, how he was when Tadashi passed. It had been a few months, but he imagined that for Vesper, having known him for so long, the wounds were still fresh. "You can talk about it if you want. I mean, Tadashi was my friend too, and Gogo's, and Honey Lemon's, and Wasabi's, but you knew him for like... Way longer than the rest of us. You'd totally be part of his superhero backstory." He tried to cheer her up.

It worked, a little. Vesper sat back in her chair and stopped staring at her drink. "It was just..." She chose her words carefully, mulling over her thoughts before she spoke. "Tadashi was my best friend, my whole life. I dropped out of high school for... well. He was still there for me, corny as it sounds. Then he went to college, and we didn't hang out as much anymore, mostly just had smoothies at The Lucky Cat. I mean, I have Yusei, and some of the artists at Tattoo Temple, but..." The nostalgic look on her face was shattered as she laughed it off. "It's okay, though. We move on, we grow. 'You can't let the past stop your future'." She quoted, and the bowl of Songpyeon arrived, saving her.

After that, the two of them ate and chatted over Bulgogi, topics ranging from Tadashi to monster movies to Fred's sign spinning. Eventually, the food was eaten and they had empty glasses of soda hoarded on the end of their table. Leaning back in his seat, Fred patted his stomach and sighed, closing his eyes. "Food... coma..." He groaned, and Vesper laughed across from him.

"I told you not to eat all that songpyeon." She chided, snatching the last bits of beef from his plate of bulgogi, totally unsympathetic to his plight.

Looking into the empty bowl to make sure there was no more, Fred sighed happily. "But it was _so __**good**_." He stressed, and when the waitress came by with the checks, he sat up and took them both, handing them back. "Just one-" He burped, "Please."

Vesper watched the waitress go and gawked. "No, it's fine, you don't have to-"

Blinking lazily, Fred waved Vesper's incoming stream of complaints away. "It's for the holiday!" Never mind that money wasn't really an issue for him. He supposed he could tell Vesper that, but the thought didn't cross his mind. It rarely did, to be honest. "Happy Chuseok." He even said it right this time. When the waitress came back, he paid with a couple crumpled twenties and a ten, telling her to keep the change, which was about an eight dollar tip.

When the two of them emerged, Fred turned to head back to the college, but Vesper stopped him. "Hey, I'm gonna head out, actually." She explained, looking at her phone. "I'm meeting someone later and I have to do some things first."

Some things- it sounded a lot like the excuse she gave Hiro when they visited the tattoo shop. "Secret _ninja_ things?" He questioned, miming karate chops as he sang a quick theme song- "Vesper the- ninja! Yeah, she's gonna- get ya'! Bumdum dada duuuum-" It made Vesper laugh, and he clapped his hands together and bowed exaggeratedly. "I await the many tales of your heroics, oh ninja-kaiju master!" He told her in goodbye.

Smirking, Vesper shook her head at Fred as she turned to walk away. "You're so weird." But she got two steps before she turned around, walking back. "Hey, give me your phone."

Fred fished through the pockets of his shorts before he found it, handing the device over to Vesper, who inspected it, then touched their two devices together- automatically exchanging the contact information. Technology was so rad. Looking at her info, Fred read her last name aloud. "Jihoon?" He questioned, and she nodded.

"Yeah, you got it." She pocketed her phone in her skinny jeans, then waved. "Now I can text you, in case I need some sign spinning back up in my ninja adventures." She joked, grinning as she turned around and walked off, waving goodbye over her shoulder. "See ya, Fred!" She called, crossing the street.

Fred waved goodbye, despite her not being able to see it. "Later, Ninja!" He yelled after her, and despite the babble of San Fransokyo surrounding him, he swore her heard her laugh. Turning and heading back to the college, Fred smiled lazily. His stomach was full of good food, the sun was out, there was a nice breeze- and he just made a new friend. He needed to work on her theme song, though.

"Vesper the- ninja! Yeah, she's gonna- get ya'! Bumdum dada duuuum- She's got superpowers, yes she does, badumdum, and she'll kick your butt, because, badumdum-"


End file.
